HomeMy WebLinkAboutExeter Times, 1899-7-27, Page 619. CO NMI? Zi TS,
Ithas long been Appareot that the
1%01 devenOpment et rallwey and wat-
er cOneraunicetione io Siberia, aod the
growth of the movement for the
fieation. of the empire, weuld necessi-
tete a reform of the Russiau penal
system. With the steady Mauer. Of
Settlers, end the rise of conainuoitieS
in Siberia tie industrious and progree-
sive any lo Rusaia. proper, it is isa•••
evitable that theee ehould he not oniy
protest agaixtet the further deporta-
tion of criminals, Le the territory, but
desire to remove, so fer as possible,
the etispaii attaching to it from its ear-
lier use. Vor it is largely upon con-
ditions as they were, noe as they exist
to -day, that. the popelar ideas about
exile to Siberia. ese based,. the system
having been greatly modified in re-
cerit yeare, though form4 labor lo the
mines still affords a xneans ot excep-
tionally severe punishment for real
criminals. For the vast. mass of exiles,
however, the hardships of the system
have been greatly ameliorated, and.
though doubtless easily susceptible of
abuse, it is no longer one of unreliev-
ed barbarity, such as the old accounts
and the statements of imperfectly in-
formed present-day writers would lead
us to believe, Indeed, the worst evil
of the system has always bee its ar-
bitrary use for the puoishraent of po-
litical offenders with the nine rigor
as those who had committed offences
against the criminal law, the other
evils being perhape no greater than
those endured under the British sys-
tem of exile to Botany Bay.
The greatest horrors occurred on the
march to Siberian. prisons, large num-
hem a convicts dying on the way, but
the advent of the railway has remov-
ed. that featnre, and has also brought
in an increasing body of settlers, am-
ong whom the exiles, after their per-
iod. of impeisonraent, may dwell as or-
dinary citizens. The system has thus
ceased to mean permanent, isolation for
the exiles, and. indeed many of them,
and of their descendants, have so fee'
taken their place with the new set-
tlerthat they are protesting against
the discharge among them of harden-
ed criminaLs. La short, a point has
been reached, at which, both in the
interelses of the settlers and of the de-
velopment of the country, it is desir-
able that Siberia should cease to be
made a dumping -ground for the moral
refuse of Russia, and the Czar has ac-
cordingly appointed a sgecial commis-
sion, under the presidency of the min-
ister of juStice, to consider without
delay, the whole question of Siberianon
exile. This commissiis to inqure
into the feasibility of substituting some
other punishment for exile by °aorta
of justice, and particularly to find
some means for the restriction or aboli-
tion of administrative exile by the com-
munal authorities, who are said to be!
responsible fter nearly one-third of the!
THRGR
EE EAT REASONS.
REV L TALMASn BREACHES
PROW THREE SHORT TEXTS.
WasolIN for nettM Ceniettan-The Orel
Zexperieuee eatth One "or me mon-
why Men, He Not neeente elluestians-
eloo0 Rettkous 'Why Toe, Sawicki. We -
l% Good lecason Why People Should
Not Vivo a ChrIstlan
A despateh from Washington says:
Rev- Dr. Talmage preached from the
folIowtog text: "Why will ye die
J'erelnials •xxvii. la. "Why will y
die V' Ezekiel xviii. 81, "Why will y
die t" Ezekiel xxxiii. 11.
Three texts all alike -an interroga
tion appropriate to the people of old
en times, and just as appropriate fo
people of modern times, Pastors an
Christian, tenehers are apt to talk a
though the impexiiteut had. no reason
for tb,e pesitlea they occupy. They
have. Among them, are some of the
roost intelligent persons in the com-
munity and taose evho always act from
a reason. Soixte of them are logicians
• They saaa manage premise, syllogism,
ccenclasioe. Some of them have devoted
their lives to the culture of their reas-
oning faculties. They stand in tbe
mart -room and present an irresistible
argument to juror and judge. They
stand in tbe siok-room and examine
the symptoms mid argue out an un-
failing diagnosis. They stand in the
university and they thrill the class
with intellectual aeldevements xis
great as those of Dugald Stuart, or
Sir 'William Hamilton. Thee are men
who are reasonable, and. they always
at from a reason. Judging from
what I know of you, and judging from
what I know of them, I declare that
yoxi more certainly have a reason for
being Christians than they have •rea-
sons for not being Christians. I will
fairly and plainly set before you to-
night what those reasons are, and.
then you Will have an opportunity of
judging whether they are good or
faulty. All the three texts imply
that there is a reason why they die.
Reason the first: We are not set-
tled, in OUT religious faith. We do not
know whether the Bible is true or not.
We do not know whether Christ is God
or not. We do not know whether
there is a place a future punishment
or not. If we believe as you do we ,
would be Christian.s to -morrow morn-
ing -yea, before twelve o'clock to -night
-yea, just this moment, we would bow
our heads and submit to the Lord My
brethren, how long have you been in
that undecided state? Are you, in the
passage of the years, getting any
nearer 'a decision ? Why do you not
.go into this subject and go through
y not take up Bishop Mal-
vain's "Evidences of Christianity," or
Dr. Paley's "Treatise," and find out
whether this Bible is a prejection from
the ALttaighty, or whether it is the
greatest sham of all thei ages ? Why
do you not gee down on your knees
and say "0 Lord Jesus Christ, I
know not whether Thou art God or
not. Demonstrate Thy power. If I
Thou be merely a man, Thou canst ;
not answer. If Thou be a God, rush
upon me this moment with superna- I
tural influence." If your child be
sick and you do not know whether it i
$ just a common cold or the dirla-
heria, you pursue the doctor until you
in.d out. If your child be sick and °
ou do not know whether it is ordin- e
ry influenza or membranous croup, h
ou pursue the doctor until you find
out. If seated in. a deliberative as- P
embly you get weary of the discus -
ion, you cry out: "Quesiion ques- n
ion!" and the only matter that you v
eave undecided is the most important P
matter to be settled. Now, I do not 1
lame you for not betoming Chris- "
ians, but I do blame you my brother,
er taking neither one side nor the
ther. Did Darwin. or Tyndall or
Herbert Spencer ever help a man to
le? When the stooges of death rise
ountain-high, wculd you rather be
n this staunch frigate of the Gos-
pel, a frigate of ten thousand tons or h
in the leaky yawl of scepticism? I do o
not at this paint in my disco - r
you to become Christians; but I do ask 3
you to take sides. ell the Lord be
God, follow Him; if Baal, follow him."
Ah, my friends, you may laugh down
all I have to say to -night: perhaps you
could. beat me in an argument and try
to overthrow a great deal I say; but
in the last great assize you will not
be able to argue away the objections
and the difficulties. 0 ye raen wise
for this world, would to God you
would be wise for the world tbet is to
come I
I was reading, this afternoon of a
onvert in the South Sea Island, whd
xtd, d ff e, inally.
Guild bemsele in a company of. Eng-. t
sat infidels who were scoffing at ree f
gion; and as he, poor heathen, carae a
, a convert recently from heathene
na, they put questiowi to him andj t
ot the laugh on him. Re turned e
lawyer who was leading in ill a
uestions, a man most severe in hie t
yle, and said to him, "Sir, it. is not
but as a little ehild. I had a very
dear friend. who was a sceptio. I had
preaohed to him for years, but made
no impreseion opon him. We had.
=Nay coeversatiOne, hut he asleed Me
all the time about etern4y, and be
asked Me hoW to harmonize eleetioo
and free ageney, and lie asked me a
great umay questions I could not
=ewer about the immortal soul and
about the eternal world, and he cone
founded me as tioich as I onfounded
hira. Time in
alone. While
I was living in Pailadelphia, baving
ebanged my ebarge, I got a letter
-. froaa him one day, in which be said;
"What do you think, sir, of nay be
, Coining ii. Christian? I tried te some
' to God through my reasoning facul-
e ties, 4ind I waited, and waited, hop-
e inge all the diffMultiee would be ex -
teamed; but I have oome at last as
a little child, and found. the peace and
- the Ilia of the Gospel. Rejoice with
- roe. Rejoice with me," 0, that God
r , manila persuade all men in this audi-
e t ewe who have bee e reasoning away
; about this and reasoning' away about
s that this night to bow themselves at
the feet of the Lord who bought them,
1 owlet but, in the very midst of
my sermon, make this prayer to Goil
that this may be the hour lif their
eternal emancipation
Another reason why men do not
. come into the kingdom of Christ is
because they are of the opinion that
the present is of more inmorlance than
the ,future. "My store, ley shop, my
studio le fa t reputation, are
of snore importance, to me than this
, ethereal thing you call eternity. That
which I can handle, that wauch strikes
the optic nerve and` the tympanum,
that witch appears to my natural
senses -that I believe to be of more
importanee than this indefinite thing
you call the great future. I Lake
this great, round, heavy world. and I
put it on one side a scale, and on the
other side !put your ethereal eternity,
and I find that this world outweighs
the other by many millions of tons. I
put my life of 40, or 50, or 60, or 70,
or 80 years, against the interminable
existence of the future -I put ray life
here against teat, and I find it is more
important than my life there. I put
Time agaiust Eternity, and Time has
it." I have noticed that everything
depends upon the standpoint you take
when you look at anything. We stand
so deep down in the "now" that we
cannot see over into the great "here-
after." If we could stand between
the two worlds, and look that way and
1 -his way, theo we might make a more
ntelligent 'comparison as to the value
of these two worlds -this, and the
next. In other words: the farthest on
• we pan get in this life -yea, the very
last point of our earthly existence -
will be the best point in which to esti-
mate the value of these two worlds.
And so, to -night, I call upon all the
dying population of Christendom, I
eall u.pon all the thousands who are
now departing this life, and I ask
them to give testimony in this matter,
You bare to listeo closely, for their
voice comes in broken whispers ;
comes off beds tumbled with pain;
. one. s from between the medicine
phials and the tapers; comes fret°
white lips and palsied tongues, and
they cannot very distinctly articulate.
Lying back they give us their testi-
mony, They say,: "My head on this
wet pillow, I look one way and I look
the other way. I see Time; I see
I Etennity. How brief the one; how
long the other. I never ow it so be-
fore. Hand-hre.adths against leagues
Seconds against cycles. I put ray
wasted and trembling hand -my left
hand -on the world that I am leaving,
and 2 p my waste and trembling
hand -my right hand -on the world
thee I am entering and for the first
tmee I see bow small is the one and
how vast is the other." Minutes; min-
utes; minutes. Ages; ages;.ages.
Like the flight of a shuttle on one
side; on the other -forever, forever.
This is like a vapor that appears for
a Ifittle season and is gone. That Eter-
ni.y.
Another reason why men do not ac-
cept the Lord Jesus Christ and become
Christians, is because they are of the
pinion that the matters of the soul
are not urgent, pressing, and immin-
nt. They do as some of us do who
aye many interruptions and more
ails than we can manage -leave peo-
le in the ante -chamber and receive
hem. one by one. So they have their
eception day. They say: -Let Busi-
ess enter." Business enters, is int er-
iewed, passes out. They say: "Let
leasure enter." Pleasure enters, is
ntervieweca passea out. They say:
Let Worldly Knowledge enter."
Vor1d1 K 1 d 8, s inter- ; a
viewea, passes out. Afte thirty or I t
forty years, they say: "Let Religion 'L
enter." And they look; but religion I '-u
s got tired of waiting and is gone. le
That' queen of heaven standing in the I ess
ante -chamber of the heart ought to ela
ave bort received first. Her first tap I w
n the door ought to have brought the IN
e SpOnse: "Come in -come in," Why, 1
adging from the slowness with which N
p
matters of the soul, you might sup- ,t,
pose that a new kind of insurance ecan-id
pany had been formed, and that by ts
paying a certain premium you could! a
get assured of the fact Haat you are 1
far from that --if photograpbist should ?
I
going to stay in this world forever.' So 9
deportations to Siberia.
Further, it is to reorganize the sys-
tem of forced labor and of subsequent ;
settlement in Siberia, to improve the
condition of exiles now there, to re-
form the system of transportation and i
distribution, to formulate new rules, t
for compulsory labor for the benefit f
of the community, and to report on She • y
financial changes necessary to give a
theae measures effect. The reform of y
the penal system is thus to be thorough
and far-reaching; and although the s
tendency of commissions in Russia, s
elsewhere, is to consume a great deal. t
of time, and to end with a report which
changes nothing, the personal interest b
of the Czar in the matter and the
portance of renaoving a serious ob-
stacle to the development of Siberia,
will, it is hoped, in this case produce d
the desired results.
WARS FROM TRIFLING PAUSES.
em16••••
reltr iluarreIs Have Brought on inoody
a mallets In the oast.
Many wars bave had trifling' causes.
A dnpatch altered in one or two points
by Biemarek broueht on the Franco-
German conflict. Palmerston said
facetiously that telly three men in
Europe ever knew what the Sclaleswig-
Holstein trtubles which led to the wars
were about, add two of them died be -
tore the conflict began, while he, the ger
third man, lied forgotten. A f
ing reference by Frederick the Great 4
of Pruaia to Melee. Pompadour, of
France, was said to have been one of is
the calves of the seven years war, g
sometimes called the "war of the a
three pettieoats ' from the fat that q
the France of Pompadour and the RuS- St
1BT1E TIIVI
language to exprees how muoli de -
Penchi upon your instanteneous am:IA-
(1.We of the Lord God. In the time that
It would take me to walk from one exed
of this platform to the other, deliber-
ately, how many souls will go out from
this world into the great eternity? Six-
ty I Where ha've they landed? Row high
tered, parapets, there is aot moeh
time. And 0, if to-olehe all these
castles of worldltnese and sin eould be
cepturea for Go, It would not take a
long While to run up the Lordai colors
eenot bait a seemed, 0 Lent jesus
Christ, lift left haudt alma right hand%
left foot end rigat foot from the jag -
have they risen ? How deep have they ?lig -hewn oross, and bound int
sunk ? What wide eircuit have theY the Midst of Leis assemblage and take
swept And while 2 have been saying thene all as priee of Th pang. 0 Tito
THE SUNDAY ra
KHOO
Lot pWiejvallayirlectitiehr°a14114uesiovne'stto°Vallizillellu'leUelY0'esTila
rit
21, 0 kittg, live forever, The usuele,
form of salutation to an oriental inns
-
area.
22. My God. Not the God only. The
personal approprietion of the friend-
ship of Jelloveh is very instructive.
Qed oer God. His aogel, Both Perst
lane and Jaws believed In the existenee
of angels. Daniel doubtless had tbe,
!same belief la tae inteefereeee of an
1111 actual. angel as Peter had in the day
he of his deliveranee, Shut the lione'
ice mouths. So spiritually God defends,
ee his eervaots from hi ea who goeth about
about lihe a roaring lion geekleg whom
lae he may devour. Before him innocenoy
t was found in Me. Not that Darnel had
pg never coseenitted a sin, but that in
m. this ease he had done riglat ; beeause
er he stood up for his God, God will stand
re for bite. ,Before thee, 0 king, have I
11, done no hart. If Daniel bad dosobeyed`
0. done no hurt. If Daniel had disobeyed
0- Darius fax any other purpose than to.
obey bis God, he would have been gull -
re ; ty of disrespect and contumacy.
t-; 23. Then was the king exceeclini
ut glad for him 'and commanded 'that
is they should take Daniel up out of the
d, I den. He hastened to undo the evil re -
he suit of his aotion. Because he believe
w ed in leis God, Here is the philosophy
er , of Daedel's deliverance. Ele believed in
g- his God, and would do what his God °r-
ag: demob regardless of results. Wee-are—
e, not sure that he expected a miraculoue
of deliveranoe; that mattered not.
of
INTERNATIGNAL LESSON, JULY 30,
41 Hanna tae Ileen of MOOS." Dan. a.
0 10'23. atoZdea *ex, 121. 8.
PRACTICAI, NurEs.
Vere 10. When Daniel anew that
the writing was signed, When he knew
that there was no opportanitY fax h
to advise the king, end no power on
Part of the king to take the adv
he would, have givee hina, he went 1
to his bailee, liestened home for P
va prayer) he never needed
more than now, Idis windows bet
opeu le his chamber toward jerusale
His chamber was probably an uPP
room, for in such rooms the Jews we
fond of offering their prayers. A
Hebrews worshiped with their faoes.t
wara the temple if in Jerusalem, t
ward Jerusalem if in a fax counti
Net all the windowe in the East a
movable, but many are made of la
tatevvoek, mad can be opened or sh
at pleasure. He kneeled upon h
knees three tiraes a day, and praye
and gave thaelts before his God, as
did aforetbne. So far as we kno
kneeling was not a eabit of pray
among the Hebrews. It has been su
gested, indeed, that :Daneel's le/lest:a
was simply an inclination of the kne
a gestoxe revererme ; but it is
no consequeike, ft is the posture
the heart, the humble and the eo
trite spirit, that God loves.
11. These men. The peesblents and
princes. Assembled. Rusbed tumultu
°wily together, SO as to come upon
Daniel by surprise. They had. heard
his voic,e and had seen him throw
the latticework open, and now they
pouneed in upon his privaey while he
was praying and making supplicatio
before his God. He recognized th
Peril by which he was surrounded.
la. Hot thou not signed a deoree
etc. They say nothing about.Danie
for that would have aroused the kirig'
friendly spirit. They put their que
Lion in such a form as to put the kin
on bis mettle and increase his ob
stinaey.
18. That Daniel. A contemptuou
phrase. The captivity of Judah. Lik
lawyers, they omit every fact of le
life that woald be complimentary t
him, and think of him as a homeles
captive met owning his own person
The glories of bis years of high states
just this, another sixty have gone t
Se way, anti all the gato of eta
sixty are erowded with emigrants fro
this world to tbat. The door of ete
nite used to be shut most of the t2so
only occaaionally open; bat now it
faeteeted open day and night boats
the procession never halts. Urgei
Why, the adjutant that, riding' svt
lathered steed, dashes from general
general and on the eve of a battl
never had such a hasty dispatch
that whittle I unriell to -night, from t
eommander of earth and heaven to y
personally. Yet people believe ta
litheecesdsaittfeortierenaostionittiinasinonein;,,ananitml to
teary thing, and they adjourn and a
journ, and that is why tbey die.
my hearers, there is no good, reason,
good reason. The most seneeless an
uselessetbing in all the earth is. th
RAY man perish. You say sin is an'
Here is a ladder on which you ma
climb out of it. You say that sin
a jail. Yea, but here is the key of th
Louse of David thet can unlock' it. Yo
say that sin is Mindless. Yes, b
here is Christ, the Omnipotent Oc
list, who can care it. You say that si
is death and burial; but here is ori
who can split the granite slabs of tla
cemetery. No good reason why yo
should die, _4. thousand good reason
whY You should live. Christ want
you to live. He has done everythin
for us. He prostrated Himself, He lay
flat on His face, and tells the whol
earth to walk over Him frora head t
foot, while He cries out, "1 am th
way." He tells the world: "Shove M.
which way you will, if you will onl
come into my kingdom; shove Me back
Ward and forward as you do a gate,
when He cries; "I am the door." The
He drops the crook of His staff on ou
neck, and He drops it very gently, an
seYs• " I am the Good Shepherd.
Then He pours out the medicine for ou
soul, and says, "I am the Physician.
And then be cries, " Gel. out of you
coffin -I am the Resurrection." Afte
God has done all this,I say, deliberate
ly, if any man loses his soul, he does s
with his eyes open, and is bent upo
it. It is as though be pressed throng
the ranks of all God's mercy, and orie
out " Stand back all chances of heav
en I Give me full swing. Clear theatrac
for the lost world 1 Take away, talc
away that cross of Christ,,or I will jos
the it down. Take away those prayer
of Christian parents. Take away thos
dying beds; or I will step on the pil
low. Remove out of sight that commute
ion table, or T will redden my feet in
the upturned tankards. Here g
on tbe lost way! 0, chasms of
death, open to receive me! I choose
darkness, and banishment, and death
and' have my way I will, God, and
angels, and men notwithstanding; and
if you will stop my way to death, and
pile up all obstacles, I will get over
them. Pile them higher, and higher,
and I will step back stt as to get mo-
naentum, and then I will come up with
a rush, and I will fall into darkness
and wrath eternal." 0, the determina-
tion of that man to perish when the
Lord God Almighty stands here to-
night to snatch him back.
My friend, there is no good reason
that will stand the test of this hour
andi there is no reason that will stand
the crucial moment of death, or the
great pass of the judgment day. I
stand here to -night to try to persuade
this whole audience into the kingdom
of God. Am I attempting too rata
-one man against a host?, 1. no. I
come out alone, but in the strength of
God, to urge you to the acceptance of
Cbrist's religion, do not take you in
sections, I charge on you in solid bat-
talion. 0, Lord, now stretch forth
Thy hand for the deliverance of these
people. Strike down their sins and
their iniquities. The world smiled. at
Burns, the Gettysburgh farmer, when
he. went out with his gun to fight for
his country independent of the regi-
ments; but 1 do not think that
Christian minister, however weak
he may be, is foolhardy, who, with
the sword of the Spirit in his hand,
and helmeted of the eternal God, goes
forth to try to capture a whole audi-
ence for Christ. 0 that that might
be done to -night. Why not? Why not?
Is not the gate of =Leroy wide open?
You know when men first begin to use
scythe, it is a very small sweep
bey make, but after they getused to
t, they can eat a very wide swath.
here is a reaper. He is an old reap -
r. He has been reaping for thou. -
ands of years. He is the reaper
path, and he will come along after a
bile and put his scythe against that
yell -the tip a the scythe - and he
vil I swing it around and take this
vbole audience into the eternaLevorld.
ut I have to put alongside of that
he
X -
re
Is
SO
t I
th
to
Le,
as
he
ou
at
he
g-
d -
0,
no
at
t.
is
ut
11u-
•
It
textile act in regard to the 1B
ruth, this truth: that tlae Gospel of
esas Christ is just as wide in its
weep, and that all who will may to-
iglit come and be saved -all, absolute -
y all. Will you cone? Is there any
ne in this bouse to -night who will re-
ect the offer of money which I make
n the name of my Lord Jesus Christ?
0 wanderer, come back to they Godl
My whole theory of preaching has
hanged in these last seven years. 13e -
ore these seven years, I wa.tched for
esults, at the end of three months
lad at the end of the year; and then
as pleased if God. gave me evidence
hat in what truth I had preached
ad been successful in bringing souls
o Christ, and I was rejoiced at the end
the three months when the eons -
union was held But since
ears ago, I have changed my theory,
nd I must look for immediate and in-
t ant nneous results; and God never dis-
to-night take his place on this plat-
form, and he abould bring the camera
toward this audience, and it were pos-
sible in the night, as it is in the day, e
to take a picture, and then he should f
place the eanaera in that gallery and' r
polut it at zrie and take me, and then a
hese pictures should be put by fax w
ew years, and another plaotographist t
hold come and repeat the process, how h
different the pictures would be; those t
aken now and those taken then. All 0
hanged. Another speaker. Another m seven
uclitory. Ah, the scenes are all the y
ime changing as this drama of the a
gee plunges on toward the last act, s
sia of Catherine Xt. joined the Austria v
of Maria Theresa against Frederick, oo
Aecording to John B ight, Eng- w
land ate her allies drifted into the Cri- at
moan "wer withaut realizing it until ah
after they got in, and they did not Ell
know what they were fighting for , w
even after they started; while it is ; g
c.ertain that everything which was I W
supposed to bave been fixed by that la
resu:ts of a quarter of a ceritury of las
war beginn'ng with the commencement
of the French revolution and ending
with Waterloo "pleased nobody and
settled nothing,' according to Sheri -
den, The average person who lived in
those days ktew as little about the
eau les of tate. slaughter as old Kasper t
queetionsa by little PeterMa. a
did nbout theabattle of Blenheim wheni 85
ery strange that I, a poor heathen
avert, should not be able to ens-, s
er ail your questions, and it is riot '
range that 17 born in another land 1
t
ould not be able to talk very good
glish; bet there is a day coming
hen there will be another group toe
ether, a larger grou.p, than this, and 1
e all will be there -it will be the
st day. And then they will say to
, 'Do you lore the Lord Jeeus '11
Christ eta I think,. sir. I will be able
to sly, Yes. What will you say, sir ?"
The man was abashed, convieted, tied
converted.
"No,e many wise, not many noble"
oalled, but God bath chosen the weak
lags of the world to confound the r
ighty ; and if yeu ever come to Gea
all, it will not be as a philosopher,
ppointed, and, I do not believe he will
isappoint me to -night. I cannot be
atisfiecl with the Sabbath morning
ervice unless I see the result before
all -past twelve o'clock. eannot be
"Anima with the Sabbath night ser
-
ice unless I see good results before
all -past nine o'clock. 0 Lord disape
point me not to -night. Let Thy grace
descend just now upon the hearts of
all this people, Why, when the
lightning atrikers, in the craah, and
see splinters and hoar the eraela, and
if the bolt of God's convicting Spirit
151113 upon an audienoe, ittstaritly there
is a quaking and trembling and a met-
ing unto God for mem. lietween the
mute 'when the cavalry petty cheer
t the charge, end the minute when
hey shout at the victory tbe cap -
T felt very peculiar this last week 8,;
8 I was reading William: Hasiett's
ecture on the '"Living Poets." 'Who -
he living poets Lord Byron; Walter
'eott ; Torn, Moore; `Wordsworth. Live
ng ? I said. No all gone; and Has- a
ett. the lecturer, as well. It seems as a
a spirit from the other world came "
pon the platform to -night, and, atm&
ng here, announced tbe departure to
ther realms of all this audietoe. Ile
rope his fingers Le that direction, and
e says: " That soul will go in 1809,
hat will go in 100; that will go it
901, December ; dint one will go in
ugust ; that one will go in June ; i hat
one wilt go in May ; that one to-raor-
• ; this one to -night." " This night a"
by soul shall be required of thee." t
I./recut! Why, there le ILO Word, it the
YI g u
bleeding, crying, groaning God, take
possession of this auditoey as Thine, 0,
Make it a Boehira fax weeping, a Pen-
tecost for tongues of flame, a jaidg-
mime for shaking, arousing, thunder-
ing molemnities.
The future is coming on; it is com-
ing' on very fast. We natty back away
from it mad try to get away from it;
but it is coming on with gleams and.
shadows, hosannas and wettings, com-
ing cornets and shackles, coming with
happiness and with wretehedness ; raid
the ground quakes with the wheels,
and the air stirs vvith the wings, and
this night is all aghast with eternity
rushing into the room, We have got
Lo go forth and net this future, you
and 1; as certainly as you sit there
and I stand here, just so certainly We
will have to go forth and participate
ea the pleasures or the griefs. With
these arms we will wave garlands or
pull at chains. nArlaieh ? When?
Why? There is a supernal hoar in
every one's history -.-an hour differ-
ent from all those that went befoce
it, different from all that will come
after it; aod God draws a circle around
that one hour, and there are more eyes
of angels and devils concentred op that
one hour than all the other hours of
it man s lifetime, What hour is tbat ?
It is the hour of salvation; it is the
laour When the tides of heaven set in
on a soul; it is the hour when tbe
Holy Spirit pleads vehemently ;* it iS
the hour when a man's own consci-
ence says, "Now you must, you most,
ettend to your soul, or lose it for-
ever," That hour is now, witb some
an this bouse, to-niebt. You feel tbe,
Almighty Presence. You experienee n
strange feeling, at the throat You
feel the uneven,' unequal tramp of the
heart. Your cenecience says you must,
your Christian friends feel that you
must, and all heaven eries, "You
must I" Now, suppose that under these
circumstances, a maxi just takes this
opportunity of salvation and folds it
up- and throws it away carelessly,
what will become of him? At the close
of the service he y1b1 step out from the
Tabernacle ; ancl on his way home he
will look up and see a star or cloud ox
meteor; but there is one thing of high-
er importance to him than any as-
tronomieal appearance that he will not
see, namely, the wide-open door of
heaven, that has stood open for a great
many years,. closed forever. No jar,
no orash, but as the angels of God. saw
that door go shut, they felt to the tips
of their wings a prolonged shudder.
XCARED PLAGUE DEVILS.
Pandemonium of Noise aud Hove (Incas
Plague Its )Jongkong.
Noisy magic as a cure for disease has
always been the favorite Chinese ap-
plication of the "mind over matter'
theoties of the Christian Scientists.
Now the residents of Hongkong are
wing magic to drive away a plague.
According to Chinese belief, any mani-
festatioh of disease is the work of a
devil. Obviouely, the driving away of
the devil is the important thing. So,
io view of the horrible condition of the
city, the Sanitary Board of Hongkong
recently lent its sanction to a remarka-
ble proceeding. •
One of the poorer districts of the city
had been so infested with the plague
that scores died every day. Every in-
habitant who found it possible to es-
cape ru •hed into the country . Shops
and dwelling houses were closed, The
streets reeked with filth and the drains
were choked with rubbish. No hy-
gienic measures were taken and the
virulent malady spread unt:hecked.
So it was agreed upon to form' a pro-
cessiott to frighten the devils who were
res,ponsible for the horrors. Men, wo-
men and children worked themselves
into a frenzy and met at dui's for the
procession. Half the city was gone
over by these half -crazed creatures,
who to their own yells and groans add-
ed the toots of horns the beating upon
gongs and the firing of crackers. '
Further precautions.were taken af I er
the.pandemonium of noise had subsided
to prevent death from entering the
houaes which had so far escaped. Be-
fore the doors of these hou:es were
hung branches of cactus or some other
thorny shrub, a piece of fine netting
and a bag of small cockle shells. A
devil it was bclieved, who might be su t-
cessful in passing through the mass of
thorn3 weul.d he baffled by the finer
netting.
It is claimed by the Chinese that the
plague devils were so seriously
frighteted by these performanees that
the horrors of the "City of Death'
have already abated.
SAFES THAT DEFY BURGLARS,
The discovery of manganese steel
has meant the manufacture of the hest
burglar-proof safes. When this metal
was discovered it was impossible to
manipulate it, but a method has been
developed tlaroueh which it is as readi-
ly shaped as the inferior grade of steel.,
Nothing equalling manganese steel
the combined properties of' 'hardness is,
and tougleness has since peen produced, la
Experiments with gun cotton and dyne- ne,
mite on manganese steel plates have h2
demonstrated that the resistance of le
this znetat to the action of explosives is' gi
unequal Led by that it lay metal known va
to Wattle. The ordinary methods fol-
lowed by nocturnal visitors are of no
avail in the etzse of manganese steel
saes.'
DEATH. WAS WAITING.
awful Vete of a Deserted and starving
miner in nee Istkois
Dr. H. W. Yexneab, agent of the Em-
pire Transportation Company at Daw-
son, brought, on a recent vieit to the
n coast a story of the most awful dis-
e ,
trees of a young miner on Galena
, creek in the Klondike country. Tellbag
L the story to the Vancouver World
re. •
s he said: " The most horrible case of
g helPleeS misery which has come to
- light this winter, ,occurred on Galena.
creek- ,,the past month. Galena is a
.
e known. creek which empties into
e the, Yukort opposite Monte Cristo
o island. During the pest summer a party
s of two young men decided to build a
_ cabin abont four miles from its mouth
craft are ignored lay these men. Rs-
aggii:aur dtdhe eiot hf, • ttnrhoiect ktking.ho foet,ileOpkeinttgit.oggeHr.erTehelys
attempt to make it a personal disre
14. The king . . . . was sore dis
pleased with hims•elf. The Revised
Version omits "with himself," but it is
a colloquialism which helps us to un
derstand the king's position. He had
suffered kimself to be en,traprped. Be
was afrald that the princes who had
conspired against Daniel might con -
seise against him. He was afraid of
popular opinion concerning himself:
By his blunder he had shown himself
not to be divine. On the other hand
he had a genuine regard' for Daniel.
Set his heart on Daniel. to deliver
hun. That a man brought up as an
oriental king should ue petulant and
whimsical is ntaturarindeed, that such
men should, ever be strong and brave
soma strange, and yet most of them
were eapable of arousing themselves
to splendid activity. A.nd doubtless
Darius did his best tor Daniel now.
He labored till the going down of the
sun to deliver him. We. can only
suppose that lie labored. or wrestled
with the law, trying °to find some
batutthhoeriste,yrafeonrcceh. an,ge of sentence. And.
meanwhile he delayed the execution
15. Assenableci. " Tunaultuously," as
before. Know; 0 king, etc. The post -
a
c.
a
1
1
re
Lb
Po
and prospect there, this winter. A
little over two months ago one partner
decided to go out over the ice. James
- Gill, the younger of the two, and about
- 25 years old, had a peeulia.rly weak
feeling about the lower limbs, and de-
cided not to attempt the trip himself,
had plenty of good provisions, and be -
,fore leaving his partner cut him a good
supply of wood for nse till he should
begone strong again, Shortly after
the partner's departure the unfortu-
nate youth found himeelf utterly un-
able to enove about. at all. For several
daps, he lay in his sleeping .bag with-
out fire and without meals. He made
up his mind that this meant death if
P d DDe
meorrseisteeffortla, ts 0o bbeeldpetheirzenlerd. cilaown
liag
upon hie bag he made an attempt
stand up, but fell on the floor in a
unconscious heap. Ile does notknova
how long he lay, though it was prob-
ably but a few monaents, or he would
have frozen to death, When he roused
up he found his hands and feet frosted '
-frozen he thought them at the time.
CRAWLED BACK - IN THE BAG.
" This occurred nearly two months
ago. He crawled into his bag again and
set hunself the task of waiting for help
to arrive from God. knows lettere. Day
after day be patiently reached ov.er hia
head to where a calendar hung upon
the wall and checked off the days and.
weeks. His only food was sugar and
flour mixed with a little water, Ow,
water being secured by picking pome 05
the frost from the walls and melline,
it in a tin cup °vet a candle. Saturday
December 17th, Gill marked off the
30th day of his helpless confinement iv..
his -bed. Ris case was more hopeless
than usual, for he found the coldness
of death creeping up his limbs and over
his body. He could keep. warm nOlong-'
er his wasted freaxne refuaed -to menu -
facture the necessary heat, „end that "
dreadful coldfiess and nurabness pre -
cursing death had already. - .Yeacbed.
lareast high. His ecurve-swelled 'gar"
had reached down and covered his
teeth, while these teeth were so loos-
ened in the jaws they could readily be
extracted with thumb and forefinger.
HOW THE RESCUERS CAME.
In a cabin on the Yukon opposite
the mouth of Galena creek Owen a
party of five prospectors. On &hire
day three of them went', on a hunting
expedition by the creek. Noon fpund
them too far away to return fer
nee. Their names were George Huff- o
'man, Joseph Fox and Nets Resrolin.
By accident they stu.rnbled across the
blazed trail which led to th'e lonesome
cabin of horrors occupied by Gill.
Noticing at least a foot of snow on
top of the stove pipe, they decided the
cabin was empty, but famed an ere
trance and found the siok man. A
fire was started instantly end a
mouthful of warm tea given him. His
stonaneh refused it, and it was lime_
tinao before the weakened intestines
would retain eeen a trifle of warm
soup. The beys then pe'oceeded to
Swamp' 001, a trail down the creek
five miles to their own cabin, and on
SUnday_ sledded the sick man down.
This Was not have to do as he had fall-
en pevaa• to 76 pounds.. Everything bas
been done for hina that could be done.
with' llie means at their dia."
posal, arsd taking into consideration
that the entire party hadn't: an ounce
of any kind Of medicine, Ttsvas decid-
ed. to notify the police, and on Thee's-
doy this was done. The deparimene
despatchael a dog team at once, tied if
Gill is riot deed ,130 will find ainnself
very shortly in a Dawson hospital."
onement of the punishment of Dan -
el aroused the conspirators. They
must threaten the king, else he would
ot carry out their plans and his own
read, and the threat of this verse has
revolutionary sound.
16. Cast him into the den of lions. It
s probable that this den was a sort
f cage in the royal gardens, fax we
now that lions were thus preserved
n ancient Babylonia, and that it was
cage seems likely from the king's
ater conversation with Daniel. Thy
od whom thou serveat continually, he
111 deliver thee. The very fact which
eads to his conviction and punisbment
n the courts of men is the fact that
n the sigbt of God. will justify him.
evout heathen of all sorts and a
reat many devout Jaws believed in
he existence of many gods. We are
of. to sdppoee from this verse that
arius believed that Jehovah was the
al ana omnipresent God, bat rather
at he was a god, ana as faithful to
Ls worshipers as all gods were sup -
Bed to be.
17. A stone was brought, and laid
u.pon the DatMith of the den; and the
king sealed it with his own signet,
of his lords. The stone was very prob-
ably plaesd at the mouth of the den
simply to receive the signet. • A cord
may have been laid across it and fast-
ened on each ,end by a lump of clay
on which was stamped the royal seal.
So our Lord's tomb was sealed. That
the signet of his lords was added, as
well as that of the king, shows the
great importance of the Perisan nobil-
ity in national affairs, That the p•ur-
pose might not be changed.. "That
nothing might be changed concerning
Daniel." The king himself must be
obfoatiabd; arsea\vxnel.1 as the humblest subject
18. The ,king went to his palace.
From the court roozn where Datiel had
le•en sentencea. Passed the night
fasting. That night Daniel slept more
pp,ly on the floor with hungry lione
out- Jahn than did Darius on his cush-
ns, Fasting carries the idea both of
ck of appetite and Weeple,es. His
i'ves were racked by theT Anxiety of
s mind. Instraint'nts of waste.
evisecS Version margin, "dateing
rls," Xenophon aeaceibes Darius as
in and without ealf-centrol, and thr-
oughly devoted to wine. and wonaeri. An
oseasion therefore, when he turns with
loathing front both wirte and women
is. noted by the historian as something
unlriTahle.. king arose very early in the
morning. At the glimmer of the
dfcnawrno. agoribleef6,et The olvvg.tccohnaeceisnlitle3
of his night had doubtless been food
for court gossip, and probably many
oyes watched his journey to the den of
Hone,
2' 4. lamenteble Els lones
b:spoke his emetions. Servant. of the
living God. Arid the only living Odd.
KEPT BUSY DIGGING CELLARS.
I ain't only got but one objection to
beta moved about. house on' all, by
these 'ere eyc1ones, remarked the old
veteran farmer..
What is that ? asked tho Easterzi
1 ouriSt, .
Vas, I've got t' dig a cellar unaeS
nay hOule about ever' two months,
altESICXS MADE 01,' COAL DUST.
A Russian inventor uffizes coal deist
by mixing it with a °Wine moliassen
and a lit tie resin and working the
tn,•e into bi'icks Tbese artifieia;'
tulips burn well and are being made
111 In:reased qaanlities, The briquei.
to ineluslryous carri id on to some ON.
tent in Western Eusope also,